The humanitarian ship Sea-Watch 5 arrived at 6pm on May 11 in the Marina di Carrara port in Italy's Tuscany region, carrying 190 migrants onboard including women and children.

The migrants were rescued in two separate operations in the Mediterranean. Initially, the government assigned the Civitavecchia port near Rome; this was later changed to the Tuscan port, which has been playing an ever more important role in the national system of humanitarian migrant landings.

In a May 8 post on the X social media platform, Sea Watch international criticized the choice of port, writing that: "In response to our question about a closer port, we have now been assigned the port of Marina di Carrara. That's another 240 kilometers further than the port of Civitavecchia. Political harassment that takes away important time to rescue."

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2,140 arrivals in Marina di Carrara

The disembarkation was the 17th since 2023 and the third this year. The last one prior to this one took place on April 30, when 126 migrants that were rescued by the Ocean Viking disembarked.

For the crew of the Sea Watch 5, this was the second visit to the Marina di Carrara port, after its previous arrival on December 28, 2023, when the ship had 119 migrants onboard.

On May 3 in the nearby port of Livorno, also in Tuscany, Sea Watch disembarked 109 migrants including 36 unaccompanied minors that will be transferred to facilities including ones in other regions, while the 73 adults have been assigned to facilities within the Tuscany province itself.

Including the migrants that arrived on May 11, the total number of people who have disembarked at the Marina di Carrara port since it was declared a safe port has risen to 2,140.

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'Alongside Brindisi, we are the port receiving the most migrants'

"With this latest disembarkation," Marina di Carrara, alongside Brindisi, "is the top port in Italy in terms of number of disembarkations, in and of itself something that does not make sense given how far away the Mediterranean is," said Carrara mayor Serena Arrighi while speaking to journalists prior to the arrival of Sea-Watch 5.

It is not yet known where the 190 migrants will be sent, Massa di Carrara deputy prefect Andrea Leo said at the port.

Leo noted that, among the migrants onboard the Sea Watch 5 ship, there were 45 unaccompanied minors over the age of 14. They will be included in three Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) projects.

Some, Leo added, "will stay in Tuscany, while the others will be sent elsewhere after "instructions from the ministry for the final destinations, which will be a variety of regions."

Several migrants reportedly have scabies and one woman is suspected of having tuberculosis and was taken to hospital. Among the 190 migrants, the deputy prefect said, are a large group from Bangladesh, while others are from Eritrea and Ethiopia as well as a smaller number of migrants from North Africa and one from Sudan.

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